PIEDMONT – It’s always a special day for high school football coaches to see one of their own players sign on the dotted line to continue their careers.

Piedmont coach Steve Smith had double the pride on Wednesday afternoon.

Defensive back Chris Griffie and wide receiver Marquise Diamond signed their letters of intent to play for Lambuth University and South Alabama respectively. Griffie (5-foot-9, 160 pounds) chose Lambuth over Shorter College and North Alabama.

Diamond (5-11, 190) gave the nod to South Alabama following offers from Southern Mississippi, Arkansas State and Jacksonville State.

“It’s like a dream come true,” Griffie said. “As a kid, you always dream of playing college football and being the greatest you can in high school, but you really don’t know if that’s going to happen or not once you go into the process. After all the working out, all the playing and all the sweating, it’s now the beginning of a new season. I’m real happy to get to continue playing football.”

Both Griffie and Diamond will be pioneers for their programs in a manner of speaking. Lambuth, a perennial playoff team in NAIA competition in Jackson, Tenn., makes the jump to NCAA Division II in 2010 in the Gulf South Conference. The Eagles will be competing against the likes of North Alabama, West Georgia, Delta State, Valdosta State and West Alabama.

“That’s one thing that excites me: moving up to a higher level of competition,” Griffie said. “Their future is looking pretty good.”

Playing West Alabama has a special significance for Griffie. His cousin, former Piedmont player D’Eric Jackson, is currently playing at West Alabama.

“We’ve talked before about that, and it’s going to be a good family rivalry since he’s my cousin,” Griffie said. “It’s going to be pretty fun.”

Diamond will be a part of the first team South Alabama fields this fall. He said the team plans to utilize him as a defensive back. While the speedster is known for offense, Diamond also showed flashes of brilliance on defense last season. He had 70 stops, including eight for losses last year for the Bulldogs (10-3).

“It’s very special to know I’m going to be a part of an up-and-coming program,” Diamond said. “I think I’d be comfortable playing corner. I like to hit sometimes. I just want to help them bring it up, and I think there’s a future for me running track down there too.”

Diamond will have a familiar face coaching him in Piedmont alum Bill Clark. Clark, who guided Prattville High School to two Class 6A state titles, is now the defensive coordinator for the Jaguars.

“He said he wanted somebody from his hometown to play for him, so I decided to go there,” Diamond said.

Smith said both Lambuth and South Alabama are getting “guys of character.”

“It’s always a special day when you have people who have an opportunity to go on and play at the next level,” Smith said. “These guys have worked very hard and put in a lot of time and effort.

“This has been a goal they’ve had for a long time. They’ve been able to work toward that goal and it’s always satisfying as a coach to see young people do the necessary things to put them in that position. They’ve put themselves in that position to be successful, but now it’s going to be whatever they make of it when they get to their respective universities. Hopefully, they will do a great job in representing our school and our community well. ”

The Bulldogs expect two more signings later in the spring. Smith said linebacker Daniel Hammett and tight end Wesley Minton are still weighing their options.

Lambuth and Shorter College in Rome, Ga., has offered Hammett a scholarship, while Minton has de-committed to play football at the Air Force Academy.

“They will both sign before the spring period is over with,” Smith said. “They’ve yet to reach a final decision on where they want to play.”